Re: Rocketman (Elton John Biopic)

MarnieRez3 · ‎02-19-2015

@patbzYOU TOO ?? So jealous!

@Lisa now in AZ

MEMO TO SELF:

DATE A D.J. IN YOUR NEXT LIFE...!

MarnieRez3 · ‎02-19-2015

Interesting take...

I remember that amongst many AIDS activists - and the gay community at large - Freddy Mercury was lambasted for not revealing he had AIDS until ONE DAY before he died. (It was a different time...In those early days of the disease, when celebrities had AIDS, they frequently had to deny it in order to preserve their careers, a la Rock Hudson.)

In Bohemian Rhapsody, the reason given for Freddy hiding his actual illness from all but his closest friends and bandmates, was that he didn't want to shame his very religious parents, particularly his father.

I am not sure if that reason is factual, or if - at the time - the tremendous misinformation surrounding AIDS and HIV was so great that he was afraid of the consequences of tellling the truth earlier to his fans.

MarnieRez3 · ‎02-19-2015

@Greeneyedlady21

Thank you for posting the book jacket! I am so interested in the songwriting process between Taupin and Elton John...

I saw an interview with Elton John in which he said that Bernie Taupin and he rarely sat in the same room writing songs. Instead, Taupin would mail him a lyric sheet that Elton would set to music. So incredible to me!

MarnieRez3 · ‎02-19-2015

@LoriLori

A Town Called Malice by The Jam - with Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott) furiously tap dancing through those British streets. GURL! It doesn't get any better than that.... LOVE LOVE LOVE!

LoriLori · ‎03-12-2010

@MarnieRez3 wrote:
@LoriLori

Interesting take...

I remember that amongst many AIDS activists - and the gay community at large - Freddy Mercury was lambasted for not revealing he had AIDS until ONE DAY before he died. (It was a different time...In those early days of the disease, when celebrities had AIDS, they frequently had to deny it in order to preserve their careers, a la Rock Hudson.)

In Bohemian Rhapsody, the reason given for Freddy hiding his actual illness from all but his closest friends and bandmates, was that he didn't want to shame his very religious parents, particularly his father.

I am not sure if that reason is factual, or if - at the time - the tremendous misinformation surrounding AIDS and HIV was so great that he was afraid of the consequences of tellling the truth earlier to his fans.

@MarnieRez3 , my friend, Freddie Mercury is shown in the film telling them at Live Aid. Except when Live Aid happened he wasn't even diagnosed yet. He wasn't diagnosed until two years later -- and he didn't tell anyone in the band until two more years after that. They were not his pals.

So many other things are untrue, big and small. How he met Mary. How he Jim. How and when he joined the band. Other things about his life. Lots of wrong stuff about the band and wrong about the songs.

There's a zillion angry posts about it all over the internet. When Sacha Baron Cohen -- note to people reading: don't care about your personal opinion of him -- dropped out of playing Freddie because the more the more research he did the more he learned the script was pure fiction, that was the first clue.

Now I'm making a frowny face. This thread is about Elton's movie so now I'm going to sing "Tiny Dancer" and "Your Song" to restore my smile.

Ibby114 · ‎03-10-2010

@proudlyfromNJ wrote:
@Ibby114 wrote:
@LoriLori wrote:
I don't care about watching two men having sex. Does nothing for me and doesn't bother me.

I love Queen. I love Freddie Mercury. I have issues with Bohemian Rhapsody because they did not portray Freddie Mercury honestly. IMO it was a money grab on the part of the band members and won't see it. I'm appalled they want to make a sequel and I sincerely hope Ramie Malik says no.

I love Elton. Growing up in NY I was so lucky to see him at Madison Square Garden the night John Lennon joined him onstage. My first concert at the Garden,, at a young age. It was amazing.

I love Elton's honesty and his heart. His generosity. His incredible performance at Princess Di's funeral. His long relationship, now marriage, and fatherhood. He's had a great life story.

And I love his involvement in and commitment to the movie including casting. He wanted it made in his lifetime. He wanted someone who could sing for himself. And he wanted it to tell the truth.
@LoriLori I've had this discussion about Bohemian Rhapsody with a friend who had business dealings with Freddie- she also said the film didn't depict him accurately. But honestly, Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved with the film and gave it their stamp of approval. If it was that far from Freddie they wouldn't have done so.

In terms of the timeline of events in the script, there were several instances of 'poetic license'. But I think it was pretty true to Freddie himself.
@Ibby114. I heard that Brian May and Roger Taylor wanted the film about the band itself, not Freddie.

@proudlyfromNJ it actually is about the band more so- I've seen it several times! But so many people talk about it not being a true picture of Freddie. My thoughts were in reply to that portion of the post by @LoriLori.

LoriLori · ‎03-12-2010

@Ibby114 wrote:
@proudlyfromNJ wrote:
@Ibby114 wrote:
@Ibby114. I heard that Brian May and Roger Taylor wanted the film about the band itself, not Freddie.
@proudlyfromNJ it actually is about the band more so- I've seen it several times! But so many people talk about it not being a true picture of Freddie. My thoughts were in reply to that portion of the post by @LoriLori.

@Ibby114 a lot of the stuff about the band, Brian May and Roger Taylor too, is not true. The history of the band, the songs. And as I said it was marketed as a Freddie Mercury biopic because that's what they knew people wanted to see.

Now I'm singing "Daniel."

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

I can't wait to see RocketMan but I can wait for the end of the month....it's only another week. I have been looking forward to seeing it for months.

I never dated a DJ but I do remember sneaking into The Spectrum in Philly multiple times to see Elton John concerts. It used to be so easy in the era before all of the security....in the early to mid 1970s.

As for Bohemian Rhapsody, I enjoyed it very much even though I knew there were many liberties taken with the story. I found a multi part video about the life of Freddie Mercury (a few years ago) on YouTube which was very interesting.

tipsy · ‎03-11-2010

@MarnieRez3 wrote:
@LoriLori

A Town Called Malice by The Jam - with Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott) furiously tap dancing through those British streets. GURL! It doesn't get any better than that.... LOVE LOVE LOVE!

@MarnieRez3 I agree, that was spectacular! I can't imagine the musical not having that one!